How Cowboys get down to $104 million - Norm Hitzges

We go through this every off season. We gnash our teeth and rent our clothing over the Cowboys' impending banishment to salary cap hell. But then they always seem to come up with the money to do whatever they want.

players don't mind restructure. they get the money now instead of maybe later.
the problem with june 1st cuts is you don't get the cap savings till june 1st so you have to restructure enough to cover all your free agents and their salaries till june 1st. that is very likely to be done though
not sure you will see free and rat because thats alot of players to replace but i think there will be some changes and some guys will be released

Claims we have room to go after 2 primo free agents if we WANT TO (been saying this all along).

What do you think?

ROFL....

Let's cover the basics here.

The re-structures mean we GUARANTEE a massive base salary to Miles Austin for what exactly? IF he is hurt all pre-season again we get the honor of paying him as an elite WR for 2013??

He has enough talent to bring back. But I don't guarantee him another single cent. Ever. Too injury-prone.

Cutting Ratliff, Free and Connor are sound but that means 3 starting spots we open up. I agree Free should not be starting but Ratliff and Connor are probably the best players at their positions currently: 1T and Sam.

Also June 2nd cuts do not up cap cash immediately. I couldn't find any CBA provision for designating someone a June 2nd cut but freeing up cash immediately. PREVIOUSLY this only allowed for 2 players per team. AND you had to carry the cap hit until June 2nd.

The two primo FA thing is a pipe dream. Great for talks how hosts but far form reality. We need lots of bodies. We can't afford to pay for expensive pieces because we'll be back here next year looking at the cap again.

Yes, we signed Carr for 3m. And we'll pay him very well this year for that 2012 cap savings.

There will be cap space. No there won't be lots of it for enough to spend on luxury items.

I always hear about 'restructuring' player (insert-name's) contract. Why would a player do that? Why would a player agree to a backloaded deal when the team could then just cut him and avoid paying him? Sounds like the players get hosed on those types of deals.

Please someone educate me if I'm wrong.

Players generally love it because it gives them a quick big signing bonus, which can then be spread out over the contract to reduce the immediate cap hit.

That means guaranteed money, versus future money that could be avoided by cutting the player.

The re-structures mean we GUARANTEE a massive base salary to Miles Austin for what exactly? IF he is hurt all pre-season again we get the honor of paying him as an elite WR for 2013??

He has enough talent to bring back. But I don't guarantee him another single cent. Ever. Too injury-prone.

Cutting Ratliff, Free and Connor are sound but that means 3 starting spots we open up. I agree Free should not be starting but Ratliff and Connor are probably the best players at their positions currently: 1T and Sam.

Also June 2nd cuts do not up cap cash immediately. I couldn't find any CBA provision for designating someone a June 2nd cut but freeing up cash immediately. PREVIOUSLY this only allowed for 2 players per team. AND you had to carry the cap hit until June 2nd.

The two primo FA thing is a pipe dream. Great for talks how hosts but far form reality. We need lots of bodies. We can't afford to pay for expensive pieces because we'll be back here next year looking at the cap again.

Yes, we signed Carr for 3m. And we'll pay him very well this year for that 2012 cap savings.

There will be cap space. No there won't be lots of it for enough to spend on luxury items.

Fans shop like 15 year old girls.

I think you've made some very good points JT.

The only thing I would disagree with is the view on Connor.

I don't see the guy being a starter on this defense. I don't think he has the footspeed nor the quickness to be a starter at any of the three linebacker positions. I would list Simms over him (as starter) at this point... And I'm not big on Simms.

I thought restructure means that some of their money this year is turned into a roster bonus or something and thus doesnt count towards the cap. in short, they'd get more of the money from later on down the road now instead of later. Definitely could be wrong though.

almost all restructures are to turn base salary into a bonus that counts NOW and going forward. he money is divided into how ever many years are left on your deal.

lots of times a team may add a year.

let's take dan connor.

we owe him 3m for 2013. he is a solid LB and we could use him in the 4-3.
so we could hand him 2m and add a year to his current deal. That would lower his cap hit by 1m for 2012.

obviously for a guy with a massive base salary like carr or romo the savings can be very large.

BUT you have to be careful because you don't want to stack up 15-20m in unpaid cap hits. Guys you know you need ot eventually eat.

Teams really only do that for elite QBs. Because if you lose an elite QB you tank for at least one year. See the Colts.

I don't see the guy being a starter on this defense. I don't think he has the footspeed nor the quickness to be a starter at any of the three linebacker positions. I would list Simms over him (as starter) at this point... And I'm not big on Simms.

Connor is interesting because I 'think' he is our best 4-3 Sam right now.

He can tackle well. His coverage would be VERY limited but is playing in that short area between carr and carter. He shouldn't need to cover much ground.

I wouldn't pay him 3m; but I'd seriously consider a restructure that brought him down to 2m.

Simms is also interesting because I felt much like you. But his metrics were terrible apparently. Even worse than Connor. Just too many missed tackles.

It would be nice if we had a better Sam but I don't think it is a luxury position at all.

lol... would it really shock you if he stays? We have players show up out of shape and can't pass a basic fitness test and have to jog around the practice field. We are known for holding on to players who are cancers here.

What? This is about the opposite of true. Out of shape players weren't allowed to practice with the team, which was more rigorous than what we'd done previously. And we aggressively cut the cancers off of this team. Not sure what program you've been observing the last two and a half years.

robert70x7;4989149 said:

If Ratliff stays on this team, I will strongly consider not watching next season.

The tea leaves are saying the Rat and Free contracts will probably keep both on the team this next season. I'll be surprised if either are cut, unless it's Free because he's unseated and the gap between him and the next best backup OT is not significant and it saves a bit of pocket change (not sure what the cash and cap implications of his contract are. I believe his cap hit is still significant next year, but don't know if he's also getting a decent paycheck).

I always hear about 'restructuring' player (insert-name's) contract. Why would a player do that? Why would a player agree to a backloaded deal when the team could then just cut him and avoid paying him? Sounds like the players get hosed on those types of deals.

Please someone educate me if I'm wrong.

Example of Restructuring Ratliff's contract:

He has 5 years remaining on his contract.

Without Restructure:
Base Salary = 5M
Prorated Signing Bonus = 2M (Ratliff has already received this, but it counts against the cap)
Total Cap Hit = 7MHe will receive the base salary throughout the 2013 season. I think it is split into 17 paychecks.

I always hear about 'restructuring' player (insert-name's) contract. Why would a player do that? Why would a player agree to a backloaded deal when the team could then just cut him and avoid paying him? Sounds like the players get hosed on those types of deals.

Please someone educate me if I'm wrong.

Any money from a base salary removed would be put into signing bonus. So the player will get it on the spot. But will be prorated. Lowering the caphit for the yr

Norm is in the talk show business; not GM business.
His discussion is with fans who shop like 15 year old girls.

We MIGHT draft someone to replace Connor. Heck, we MAY have someone on the roster who can do it. But Connor is a former 3rd round pick and we have only 6 picks total. We don't Know we can easily replace him.

It is a timing thing. You don't cut all these guys then figure it out later. This is a talent accumulation business.

I am not against cutting Connor; just pointing out this framework Norm laid out has leaks all over the place.